Embrace your Pivots

After spending a day and a half exploring Portsmouth and Norfolk, Virginia we leave the free Portsmouth City dock and head north towards the Chesapeake Bay. Today was our longest cruising day yet at over 12 hours! The weather window was predicted to be good for the day, however, the morning was scheduled to be…

We had one day to explore Norfolk and Portsmouth given the Portsmouth City Dock allowed for a 36 hour stay. So we tried to make the most of our time here, which didn’t go quite as planned. Norfolk, Virginia has a special place in Elliot’s heart even though this is our first time visiting! Elliot’s…

Today is bittersweet as we leave one of our favorite sections of the great loop, the Dismal Swamp, and venture towards Portsmouth, Virginia.  First we have our second lock experience at the Deep Creek Lock and a short cruise in the Elizabeth River up to Portsmouth City Dock. The Portsmouth City Dock is free for…

We were very bitter sweet leaving the Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center because it has been such an amazing stop on America’s Great Loop. It’s been quiet, beautiful, and we met some amazing boaters on both our nights!  Our cruise today was a short one and after we left the welcome center we entered our…

While the America’s Great Loop is a nautical adventure, what truly makes it special is experiencing parts of America that you would otherwise miss the chance. Today we hiked a beautiful and historical place – the Dismal Swamp.  The Dismal Swamp is actually pretty accessible compared to most Great Loop activities as the State Park…

We began our loop experience with the attitude that this was going to be a learning experience for the both of us. With very little prior boating knowledge and experience, we’re both learning at every turn, dock, anchorage, and everything in between.  With safety as our upmost priority, we approached this boat learning experience as…

Balancing boat work and boat projects with exploring the destinations along America’s Great Loop is a challenge. There seems to always be jobs to do on the boat, giving us less time to visit the places we want to learn and explore more of. It’s a constant battle for our time. Today we had 5…

Today we left Belhaven, NC for our longest cruising day yet on America’s Great Loop. We wanted to try something new to help us balance our time at the wheel while also getting our work done. We experimented with 3 hour shifts, giving us each 6 hours at the helm navigating the boat and 6…

The smallest town we’ve been to on the Great Loop so far, Belhaven, North Carolina No restaurants open in town, no laundry except in the marina, and the only business open was the local hardware store – Belhaven, North Carolina on a Monday was not exactly what we expected. Belhaven is the smallest town we’ve…

Unfortunately today we must leave Oriental, North Carolina. We have stayed our two nights on the free dock (with a free pump out, I might add) and decided to spend our last morning with a stroll around the town.  We stopped at probably the coolest coffee shop we’ve seen in a while. It had a…